For millions of Americans, Thanksgiving morning begins the same way: in front of a television, watching giant character balloons float down Manhattan’s streets while professional dancers, elaborate floats, and celebrity performers parade past.
To understand how a department store that opened when Abraham Lincoln was still a private citizen created America’s most-watched holiday parade, one must first understand Macy’s unusual origins and why immigrant workers at the company saw a parade as the perfect way to celebrate.
His first day’s sales totaled just $11.08.
Macy’s leadership agreed to the proposal, seeing it both as a gift to employees and as a marketing opportunity to drive holiday shopping traffic.
You can watch the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade—the company’s 99th of these, with No. 100 coming next year—below.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
